Tuesday’s election will have major short- and long-term effects on marijuana policy. In the immediate sense, Michigan became the tenth state to legalize marijuana for adults, while successful ballot measures in Missouri and Utah brings the total number of states with medical marijuana laws on the books to 33. Numerous pro-legalization candidates were also elected to governorships and to Congress, and the two most anti-marijuana Representatives will not be returning to the House in 2019.

With Sessions gone, the table has been cleared for Trump to select a new attorney general—that could be either very good or very bad for the cannabis industry. Despite the uncertainty, however, there's still reason to be hopeful.

Not surprisingly, given Sessions’ outspoken and outdated prohibitionist views (he infamously said that “good people don’t smoke marijuana”), cannabis stocks immediately rallied late on Wednesday as investors saw his ouster as a good sign for the industry. However, most cannabis stocks had fallen back to prior levels by the time markets closed on Thursday as investors likely realized that sometimes you're better off with the devil you know than the one you don't.